


A Marauder's Journey

by A Sirius Crush On Moony (Obsession137)



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-08
Updated: 2014-09-08
Packaged: 2018-02-16 15:17:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2274588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Obsession137/pseuds/A%20Sirius%20Crush%20On%20Moony
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A story following the four Marauders through their seven years at Hogwarts, up until the very end of Deathly Hallows. There will be various pairings, but they will occur later on.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The First Day

[ _Remus_ ]

As he stepped through the barrier to Platform Nine and Three Quarters, Remus stopped suddenly. This was it. He was finally going to Hogwarts! He'd been dreaming about this for as long as he could remember, and the day had finally arrived.

He smiled to himself and looked up at his mother, who had her hand rested on his shoulder, and he looked up at his father who was smiling down at him.

"Don't forget to write to us," said his mother quietly. She seemed to be trying to hold back tears.

"I won't," Remus reassured her, turning and giving his mother a hug. She burst out crying.

"My little boy... starting school!" she bawled. "I hope you have a wonderful time, love!"

"Of course he will," said Remus's father, giving Remus a wink. "You'd best be getting on the train now, Remus."

"Yeah," Remus said with a smile, pulling away from his mother. "I'll miss you both so much. Bye mum, bye dad."

"Bye sweetheart," called his mother, as he pulled his trunk towards the train. He faintly heard his father wish him goodbye as a tall man grabbed his trunk and threw it in with all of the others.

"Can I go on the train now?" he asked the man nervously. The man laughed.

"Of course you can," he said, giving Remus a gentle push towards the door.

Remus slowly stepped into the train. He had never been so nervous in his life. He was shy by nature; he'd never been one to make friends easily. He lacked in confidence and he was always afraid that somebody would figure out his secret. He liked to keep to himself and keep quiet to ensure that nobody watched him too closely.

He'd only ever had one friend in his life; Jake Hardy. Jake was his neighbour in the Muggle town he'd lived in for most of his life. Jake was a Muggle, so he didn't know about Remus being a wizard or about Remus being a werewolf. Remus decided having a Muggle friend would be a lot easier as Muggles wouldn't notice the signs of his lycanthropy. Now however, he would be in a school filled with wizards and witches and they'd probably learn about werewolves at some point, which was already scaring Remus.

He took a deep breath and started walking down the middle of the train, looking left and right into each compartment for an empty one. Every single compartment he walked past had at least two people in it, who were already talking to each other. He didn't want to invade their conversation, so kept walking on.

He finally came to a compartment with just one small boy occupying it. He had blonde hair and brown watery eyes, and he was a little bit chubby.  _This is it_ , Remus thought, grabbing the handle of the sliding door and pulling the door open. The smaller boy jumped at the sound of the door opening and relaxed when he saw Remus coming in. After Remus shut the door behind him, he sat down on the seat opposite the other boy and looked out of the window. After a few seconds of awkward silence, the boy spoke.

"Hi," he said timidly. Remus turned to face him. The other boy seemed to be as nervous as he was, which he was quite thankful about. He didn't want an outgoing person sitting with him for the whole journey.

"Hello," Remus said, smiling at the boy. "My name's Remus Lupin, what's your name?"

"I'm Peter Pettigrew," he answered, holding out his hand. "Nice to meet you. You're a First Year too, right?"

"Yeah. Everyone else just seems so much older than I am," Remus said, looking into the compartment opposite, which had a group of taller boys in it.

"I know! It seems like we're the only First Years here," Peter said. "I haven't seen anyone else who looks our age at all."

"Me neither," Remus said, as the train began departing the station. Remus looked out the window to see his mum and dad standing on the platform waving away. He waved back, with a longing smile. He was going to miss them like crazy.

"Can you believe we're going to Hogwarts?" Peter said, his voice tinged with excitement. "I've been waiting for this day for years!"

"So have I," Remus answered. He purposely left out the part where he wasn't sure he'd even be allowed to attend Hogwarts because of his lycanthropy. "I wonder what house we'll be in?"

"Oh yeah," said Peter. "Hmm, I think I'd like to be in Gryffindor. What about you?"

"Me?" Remus asked. Truthfully, he'd never really thought about which house he'd like to be in. "Maybe Gryffindor, or Ravenclaw..."

"Oh yes, Ravenclaw sounds okay, but that's for the clever people and I'm definitely not clever," Peter said matter-of-factly, although that fact didn't bother him at all. Remus laughed.

"I bet you are," Remus said.

"I'm not. Believe me."

"I guess we'll see when we have our first lesson then," Remus answered. Peter seemed to be about to speak, but the compartment door slammed open and in walked two more people.

"Do you mind if we join you?" asked a girl. She had bright red hair and emerald green eyes, and she was accompanied with a rather ugly-looking boy with greasy black hair and a long, hooked nose. Remus looked at Peter who shrugged.

"Yeah, you can come in," Peter said, moving over for the girl to sit next to him. Meanwhile the boy took a seat next to Remus.

"Bloody awful boys they were," the girl muttered. "Don't listen to them, Sev."

"Well they can't blame me if they get stuck in Hufflepuff," the boy sneered. Remus and Peter remained quiet. The girl looked towards Remus.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I never introduced myself," she said. "I'm Lily and this is my friend Severus."

"Hi Lily, Severus," Remus said. "I'm Remus, and this is Peter."

"Nice to meet you," said Lily happily. "I'm determined not to think about Tuney at all while I'm at Hogwarts," she said to Severus. "I don't want that to ruin my time here."

"Good," Severus said. A few minutes passed with nobody speaking. Finally, Peter spoke.

"What were you talking about when you came in?" he asked. "About some boys?"

Lily sighed. "Oh, we were in our compartment and Sev was just saying how he hoped I'd be in Slytherin-" Remus and Peter exchanged glances. "- And this  _rude_  boy just started insulting Severus and being horrible! I ended up just leaving, because the two of them seemed like complete idiots. Didn't want to start arguments on the very first day."

"Oh... sorry to hear that," Remus said sympathetically.

"Bloody Gryffindor scum!" Severus muttered angrily. "They think they're all so  _perfect_. I most certainly wouldn't be boasting if  _I_ were a Gryffindor."

"Come on, none of us have even been sorted yet," Peter said. "We don't even  _know_  what houses we'll be in."

"Oh believe me, I'll be in Slytherin. The whole magical side of my family have been in Slytherin," Severus replied.

"I don't see why people are fussing over it," Lily said. "I'm a Muggle-born so I have no idea as to what the differences are between the houses."

"If you're sorted into Slytherin you will be respected for your school career. You  _don't_ want to be in Hufflepuff unless you'd prefer to be seen as a joke. Ravenclaw is for complete nerds, and Gryffindor is for all of the big-headed people like the two in our last compartment," Severus said.

"Oh. Then Slytherin seems the best," Lily said.

" _Actually,_ " Peter interjected. "Gryffindor is for the brave and courageous, Hufflepuff is for the hard-working and loyal, Ravenclaw is for the intelligent and creative and Slytherin is for the cunning and resourcefulness."

"Oh in that case, I don't really mind which house I'm put in," said Lily, looking a bit less worried.

"Anything from the trolley?" asked an old witch who walked past the compartment door.

"Yes please!" squealed Peter, getting up and looking through the different sweets they had.

"What are  _Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans?_ " asked Lily.

"They're basically what the name says," answered Remus. "They come in all sorts of flavours, believe me."

"Do you think I should try some?"

"If you want."

"I'd like a box of the  _Every Flavour Beans_  please," Lily said politely to the woman, who took her money and handed her a box. Peter returned with two chocolate frogs.

"Got one for you, too," Peter said, handing one to Remus. Remus's face lit up immediately.

"I  _love_  chocolate," he said, unwrapping it. "Thanks."

"No problem."

"I  _think_ ," Lily said grimacing. "I just had  _cabbage_  flavour."

"It's not too bad," Severus said. "I once had earwax flavour." Lily gagged.

"How do you know what earwax tastes like?" Peter asked suspiciously. Remus laughed, but Severus scowled.

"I wasn't talking to  _you_ ," he said coldly. There was an awkward silence. Nobody knew what to say. Both Remus and Peter silently agreed that they weren't too fond of Severus.

"So..." Lily said, attempting to break the silence.

"So which class are you guys most excited to learn?" asked Remus. Lily's eyes widened.

"Oh, I'm really excited to learn Charms! I've never used a wand before. It'll be fun," she said excitedly. "What about you?"

"Defence Against the Dark Arts sounds interesting," Remus answered.

"Potions," Severus said. "I'm already really good at it. My mum is a potions master, so I guess the talent was passed on."

"I just want to get to the Great Hall and dig into the feast," Peter said, rubbing his stomach. Lily and Remus laughed, but Severus glared – he was probably expecting a better response to his potions 'talent'.

"I think we're nearly there," Remus said, looking out the window. Indeed, the top of the castle could be seen over the many trees.

"Ooh, I can't wait," Lily said. "Do you guys know how many will be sorted into each house?"

"I think it's five girls and five boys," Peter said, looking around at the others for confirmation. Remus nodded.

"Yeah, and I think that we have to share a dorm with the other four people in our house, too."

"Well at least  _I'm_  safe from those big-headed creeps back there... they had Gryffindor written all over them," Severus said. "You two on the other hand..."

"Are you calling  _us_  big-headed?" asked Peter aggressively.

"No. You just seem more...  _Gryffindor_  and believe me... I don't like Gryffindors," Severus said.

"Sev! They haven't done anything wrong! Stop being so horrible," Lily said angrily. "Excuse Severus, he's had a hard life," she whispered to Peter and Remus.

The train started slowing down and they began to hear bustling around in the other compartments. As Remus, Peter, Severus and Lily stood up, the train finally stopped. Severus put a hand out to open the door, but just as he did, two boys skipped past the window making rude hand gestures in his face.

"I'm guessing those are the two you don't like?" Peter asked. Lily nodded.

"They think they're all that," she said crossly. "Come on Sev, open the door." Severus opened the door, and they all joined the crowd of students struggling to find a way off of the train.

After a large amount of pushing and shoving, they managed to find their way on to the platform. Remus stuck close to Peter, as he wasn't completely sure of where he was supposed to be going. Many of the older students seemed to be walking off, not bothering to tell the First Years where they were supposed to go.

"Where do we go?" called Remus over the top of the noise of the students and the train whistle. Peter shrugged.

"I have no idea," he answered, getting on his tip-toes and looking around. Finally, a loud voice called:

"Firs' Years! Firs' Years come ter me!"

Remus looked around for the person who was speaking, and he spotted an abnormally large man standing holding a lantern up. Remus and Peter hurried over to him, and stood with a group of others who looked about the same age. He saw Lily and Severus and the two boys who had given Severus rude hand gestures. Remus was pleased to see that he wasn't the only one who looked nervous. He looked up to see the tall man counting the students.

"Tha's forty. Yer all here, so let's get going ter the castle. Would yer follow me?"

Everyone began following the tall man. It was pitch black and the only thing they could see was the lantern he was holding high above them. It was very quiet; all that could be heard was the many footsteps of the First Years.

They rounded a corner and Remus caught sight of the most magnificent castle he'd ever seen. He gasped, as did many other students around him.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" asked the man, smiling down at them all. "Righ' we'll have no more'n four to a boat!"

Remus forced his eyes to tear away from staring at the castle, where he noticed that there were eleven or twelve small wooden boats, each with a lantern on. Remus and Peter edged nearer to each other as to stay together. They were about to step onto a boat when they heard Lily calling their names. Remus looked at Peter, and they headed over to join Lily and Severus in their boat.

"Doesn't it look lovely?" Lily asked, staring up at the castle in awe, the lights from the windows glistening in her emerald green eyes. Remus nodded with a grin.

"Yeah, it took me a while to stop looking at it," he said. Severus sighed.

"I've seen it thousands of times in my mum's photos," he said in a bored voice.

"Well that's great for you," Peter said, annoyed. "Some people actually like to appreciate their surroundings." Severus rolled his eyes impatiently, seeming to have ignored Peter entirely.

"I wish these boats would hurry up!"

"I don't," Lily said. "It's great! There's a beautiful view... my mum would  _love_  this."

"I wonder what it'll look like inside?" asked Remus, grinning. Lily was almost jumping out of her seat with excitement.

"Aren't you excited at all, Sev?" she asked him. Severus shrugged. "Oh come on! You were always telling me stories about Hogwarts! You were  _so_  excited and now you seem so bored... what's wrong? Was it those two boys?"

"It's nothing. I just want to get sorted into my house and make some friends," Severus said.

"Well we're almost there now," Lily said. Sure enough, the boats were approaching the other side of the water and the castle was now looming over them. It looked a hundred times bigger than Remus had originally thought. As the boats stopped, all of the First Years stood up and started getting off of them. The tall man stood by a pathway that led up to the castle.

"Righ', yer all here? Good. My name is Hagrid and I'm the Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts. I'll be taking yer through the front doors in a sec, and you'll be greeted by Professor McGonagall who will tell yer the rest. Follow me."

He led them up the winding pathway to the front doors. Enormous wooden doors, about as tall as two double-decker buses on top of each other stretched above them. There was a loud  _creak_  as the doors opened inwards to reveal the first glimpse of the inside of their new school.

Compared to the outside, it was incredibly bright inside. The walls were made of stone, but yet the place seemed warm and welcoming. Remus caught sight of all of their trunks sitting in the corner, ready to be taken to their rooms. There were four large hour-glasses which were completely empty; one for Gryffindor, one for Hufflepuff, one for Ravenclaw and one for Slytherin. Remus remembered his father telling him about those... they were for house points. Busy taking in his surroundings, Remus never noticed Hagrid leave them, and a tall thin witch appear in front of where they were standing.

"Good evening, First Years," she said warmly. "I am Professor McGonagall." Everyone remained silent. "In the future, I'd like you to say 'Good evening, Professor McGonagall' back to me, but I shall excuse you tonight after you've just had such a long, tiring journey.

"Now, I'm sure most of you know that at Hogwarts, there are four houses. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. In a moment, you will be taken into the Great Hall where you will be sorted by the Sorting Hat. When you're sorted, I'd like you to go and join your fellow First Years in the house you've been sorted into. Then Professor Dumbledore will make his speech, and the feast will begin. Afterwards, your house prefects will escort you to your common room and you'll get more information when we get there. Any questions?"

"What will happen to our luggage?" asked a boy with light blonde hair.

"The house elves will take your luggage up to your dormitories when you're eating your dinner. Any more questions?" Professor McGonagall asked. Nobody raised their hands, but stood staring at her. "Excellent. Now we shall enter the Great Hall. Follow me."

All of the nervous First Years followed Professor McGonagall towards another large wooden door, which opened just as she was approaching. Remus felt a lurch in his stomach as he took in the new room.

There were hundreds of people sitting down watching  _them_. He suddenly felt incredibly self-conscious and edged closer to the middle of the group. There were five long wooden tables; presumably one for each of the houses, and one for the teachers. Remus could see Professor Dumbledore sitting in the middle of the teachers table, smiling at them. After what seemed like hours, the First Years finally reached the stool where they would be sorted.

"So First Years, I shall call your names out alphabetically. When I call your name, you will step up and put the Sorting Hat on your head. Abbott, Hector!"

Hector was the boy who'd asked about the luggage earlier. He seemed to be shaking with nerves as he walked over and sat on the stool, placing the old hat on his head.

"Hufflpuff!"

There were cheers from the Hufflepuff table, and Hector looked a lot happier, rushing off to join his new house. Remus could feel his heart beating faster. He wished that it would be his turn already so he could get it over and done with. Remus didn't pay much attention to the next few. All he caught was that Applebee, Michael was sorted into Ravenclaw, Avery, Antares was sorted into Slytherin, and the twins, Kelly and Tina Baker were sorted into Hufflepuff.

Black, Sirius was now making his way up to the stool. Remus noticed that he was one of the boys he'd seen earlier on the train. He didn't look half as confident as he had looked earlier on. As he placed the hat on his head, everyone in the room seemed to go quiet.

It took a while before the Hat shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" Sirius's eyes widened in shock, and there were gasps around the room. Remus was slightly confused over the strange reaction.

"Didn't I tell you?" whispered Severus. "Gryffindor written all over him."

"He  _can't_  be in Gryffindor!" screeched a voice from the Slytherin table.

"Excuse me, Miss Black," said Professor McGonagall, looking furious. Her mouth had gone into a thin line. "It is up the the Sorting Hat, and Mister Black has been placed in Gryffindor. Please sit down." The girl who had called out sat down with a wide-eyed expression. She had blonde hair and an aristocratic-looking face. Remus wondered why everyone was making such a fuss. Sirius Black sauntered towards the Gryffindor table, looking back and grinning at his friend from the train and taking a seat next to one of the older students.

"Bowler, Shannon!"

Again, Remus wasn't listening much. A few more people were sorted, but then Professor McGonagall called out a name Remus recognised.

"Evans, Lily!"

Remus saw Lily gulp, and Severus gave her a comforting push forwards. She looked petrified as she stepped up. The Hat had barely touched her head before it called "GRYFFINDOR!" and Remus heard Severus groan.

Lily looked relieved and walked towards the Gryffindor table, turning and giving Severus a sad smile on the way. A couple more people were sorted. Finally, Professor McGonagall reached the 'L's. Lockhart, Gilderoy was sorted into Hufflepuff while Longbottom, Frank was sorted into Gryffindor. Finally, Lovegood, Xenophilius was sorted into Ravenclaw and Remus could tell he was next.

"Lupin, Remus!"

He took in a deep breath and walked up to the stool. He tried to remain confident, but he knew that it would never really show. Once the Hat was on his head, it began talking to him.

"Hmm, now  _this_  one is difficult. You are very smart... you'd make a good Ravenclaw, but you're also very hard-working, which would make for an equally good Hufflepuff. And you're also extremely brave to have to go through a transformation every month, which puts you in the category for Gryffindor. But I think your courage outdoes your other qualities so... GRYFFINDOR!"

Remus grinned. He'd really done it. He was definitely staying at Hogwarts now... he'd been sorted into the same house as his mother, and he was proud. As he ran towards the Gryffindor table, he took his seat opposite Sirius Black. Lily smiled at him.

"Well done for making Gryffindor!" she said. "Let's just hope Sev and Peter get in, too."

"Who? That greasy git from the train?" asked Sirius incredulously.

"I wasn't talking to you, Black," Lily said coldly, turning away from him to watch the sorting. Sirius looked at Remus and did an imitation of Lily behind her back, making Remus laugh. He held out his hand.

"I'm Sirius, by the way," he said, grinning. Remus shook his hand.

"I'm Remus."

"Nice to meet you, Remus."

"Can I ask you something?" Remus said hesitantly. Sirius shrugged.

"Sure!"

"Why was everyone so shocked when you got sorted into Gryffindor?"

"Oh," Sirius grinned. "Well, you see... my family is a really old pure-blood wizarding family. Our entire family have been in Slytherin and it looks like I'm the first to break the tradition," he said proudly.

"Didn't you want to be in Slytherin?" asked Remus.

"No way! I'd hate to be in Slytherin. I don't want to be associated with my family. They're all for pure-blood power. They believe that anyone with Muggle blood is inferior to us, which I completely disagree with. My mum will probably kill me for being put in Gryffindor," he laughed. Remus laughed too.

"Sound like a nice bunch," he said.

"Yeah... That girl who shouted out was my cousin, Narcissa. I know I'll be getting hell from  _her_  over until she leaves next year. They always knew I was different... I'm just so glad that I don't have to be in Slytherin, where everyone would think that I'm like them."

"Yeah, well I'm happy you're in Gryffindor then..."

" _Shhh_ ," said Lily. "The sorting  _is_  still going on, you know..." she whispered.

"Sorry, Lily," Remus said. Remus turned back to face the sorting. A fair number of people had been sorted now, but Peter was still waiting, as was Severus.

"Parker, William!"

"RAVENCLAW"

"Parkinson, Lisa!"

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Peterson, Kate!"

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Prissley, Sophie!"

"RAVENCLAW"

"Pettigrew, Peter!"

Remus crossed his fingers for his friend as he watched Peter put the Hat on his head.

"GRYFFINDOR!" it shouted after a while of contemplating. Peter came running over to the table happily, sitting next to Lily.

"Well done, Peter," said Remus with a smile. Lily congratulated him too, and Sirius introduced himself.

"Potter, James!" called Professor McGonagall. Sirius sat up straighter, watching. Lily groaned.

"Oh, your big-headed friend," she muttered to Sirius.

"Rather be big-headed than pig-headed," he retorted. Lily glared at him. "What? That's what James called you in the train, not me," he said innocently.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the Hat, and a very excited-looking James Potter came to join them. He sat down beside Remus. When he caught sight of Lily, he smirked.

"Oh, if it isn't Mrs Pig-head," he said.

"Oh, if it isn't Mr Big-head," she replied. The stared at each other for a moment, and then Sirius broke the silence.

"Congrats in making Gryffindor!" he said happily. James smiled.

"You too! I thought you'd be in Slytherin with the rest of your family," he said. "You really  _did_  break the tradition."

A girl came to join the table, sitting down with three other girls who'd been sorted into Gryffindor and Frank Longbottom. Lily took her chance, and got up to join them.

"She's probably got her knickers in a twist because her little  _Snivellus_  didn't get into Gryffindor," James whispered.

"He could still be," Sirius pointed out.

"No. There're already five boys in Gryffindor."

"Oh yeah!"

"Oh, sorry I never introduced myself," James said, turning to Remus. "James Potter."

"Hey, I'm Remus."

"Hi Remus," he said, smiling. "And who are you?" he asked, looking at Peter.

"Peter. Nice to meet you."

"You too."

After another load of people had been sorted, it was Severus's turn.

"Snape, Severus!"

The Hat didn't seem to even touch his head before it called, "SLYTHERIN!"

Severus joined his fellow Slytherins and Remus noticed Lily looking at him sadly. Another ten minutes went past and finally Wilkes, Lionis was sorted into Slytherin.

"About time," muttered Sirius. "I'm hungry."

"Tell me about it," agreed Peter.

Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat and stood up. Everybody went quiet and turned to face him.

"Good evening, everyone. I am pleased to welcome all of our First Years, whom I hope will enjoy their time at Hogwarts very much. For the benefit of the First Years as always, the Forbidden Forest is – as the name suggests –  _forbidden_. This is for your own safety, and any student found venturing in there will be severely punished. Our caretaker, Mr Filch would like me to remind you also that dungbombs are not to be thrown into broom closets.

"As most of you know, your timetables will be handed out tomorrow morning at breakfast, so make sure you are down promptly. Quidditch try-outs will also begin in two weeks for anyone who wishes so try for the house teams, and the first match will be in October – Hufflepuff versus Slytherin.

"I have a very important message, so I'd like you all to listen very carefully. Mysteriously, a new tree has grown on the grounds of Hogwarts and it is – I warn you –  _very_ dangerous. If any student is found near this tree, you will be in risk of death and you will be in serious trouble. We've named it the Whomping Willow, and it is just to the left of the school if you exit through the main doors. You'll know which one it is, because it is extremely large and appears to be alive. I believe that is all. Please, enjoy your feast!"

Everybody clapped, and a magnificent feast appeared on the tables in front of them. There seemed to be a bit of everything. Remus didn't even know where to start. Peter, as expected, was already digging in. He had three chicken drumsticks on his plate, and one in each hand. Remus laughed and began eating.

After they'd finished eating, and they were all full up (except Peter, who had explained half way through the feast that he never gets full), Professor Dumbledore stood up again.

"Prefects, would you kindly escort the First Years to their common rooms?"

A pair of older students stood up; one male and one female.

"Would you please follow us, First Years?" said the girl. All of the First Year Gryffindors stood up quietly and followed the two prefects out of the Great Hall. They were led up several flights of stairs.

"By the way, these staircases move," said the boy. "So I'd make sure you remember  _exactly_  where the common room is."

After a long walk through different corridors, they stopped in front of a large portrait of a fat lady. The woman in the portrait smiled.

"Password?"

"Veritaserum."

The portrait swung backwards to reveal a narrow corridor leading into a circular room. The room was decorated in Gryffindor colours; red and gold. There was a fire place and a couple of comfy sofas dotted around the room. The place looked homely and cosy, and Remus could feel himself falling asleep just from the warmth of the room. After all of the First Years had filed into the room, the portrait closed and the two prefects spoke.

"My name is Katie-"

"-And I am Justin."

"And we are the Gryffindor prefects. Now, as you've just seen... to enter the Gryffindor common room you have to give a password – veritaserum. The password will change from time to time, but we will let you know beforehand so you can get in."

"Your dormitories, as you should know, fit five people each. There are ten of you altogether; five boys and five girls."

"The boys dormitories are through to the left," Justin pointed to a door, where Remus could see a spiral staircase going up. "And the girls are on the right."

"Off you go. Your belongings are already there."

The boys and girls headed up to their separate dormitories. James unlocked the door, and they found a room with five beds in. Remus found his belongings lying at the bottom of the bed between Sirius's and Frank's.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm tired," said Peter, yawning. "I'm going to bed."

"Me too," said Sirius, taking his pyjamas out of his trunk. Remus, James and Frank agreed.

As Remus felt himself drifting off that night, he kept replaying the day. This morning he'd been a complete nervous wreck and now he was tucked up in his bed with a couple of new friends, smiling. He couldn't wait to find out what tomorrow would bring, and he kept that in mind as he slowly, slowly fell asleep.


	2. Lost

[ _Peter_ ]

Peter awoke early the next morning. He'd barely gotten any sleep as he was just too excited to start school. He silently crept out of his bed and peered around at his room-mates. Frank, Remus and Sirius were fast asleep, and one of them was snoring very loudly – he couldn't tell which. James was sitting up in his bed, rubbing his eyes.

"Oh, you're awake," James said in surprise, pulling back the covers and stepping out of bed.

"Yeah... I couldn't sleep well," Peter whispered back so as to not wake the others. He headed towards the bathroom and James followed.

"Me neither," James said. "I was just thinking about today. I really can't wait! We finally get to learn magic!"

"Same," said Peter. He had a question pressing on his mind, and he wasn't sure if he should ask it or not. Deciding  _oh, what the heck,_ he cleared his throat. "Hey, why did that Severus kid think you were being rude on the train yesterday?"

"You mean  _Snivellus_?" James answered with a snigger. Peter nodded hastily. "He was just being – I don't know – I just don't like him. You know when you get an immediate dislike for someone?"

"He  _does_  seem a little bit strange," Peter said. "He was being really  _off_  to Remus and I in the train."

"He thinks he's better than everyone else because he's a slimy old Slytherin," James said, rolling his eyes. "Well that Evans girl seemed a bit nicer."

"She was really nice to us," said Peter. "I can't understand why she was with  _him_."

"Merlin knows, Pete. Mind if I call you that?"

"I don't mind," Peter said, smiling. He had never had a nickname before. "I think they knew each other before Hogwarts. I heard her saying that Sever- _Snivellus_  used to tell her stories about Hogwarts."

"Hmm, that would explain it. She could've found a decent person to be friends with instead of getting stuck with him. Poor soul," James said. Peter laughed and shook his head.

By the time they had both showered and were ready to go downstairs, Frank and Remus were just stirring. Sirius however, was still fast asleep with an arm hanging off his bed and almost touching the floor. The loud snoring had stopped.

"Guess that means it's either Remus or Frank who snore," James whispered to Peter, who nodded. "Hey, Frank, Remus? Do either of you snore?"

Frank turned pink. "Umm, that would be me. Sorry about that."

"Man, I've never heard anyone snore that loud," James said. "I guess we'll have to get used to it."

"Don't you think we should wake up Sirius?" asked Peter, eyeing the sleeping boy.

"Nah, his fault he didn't wake up," James said, smirking. "We'll let him be late."

"That's a bit cruel," Remus said, glancing over at Sirius, who was now half hanging off his bed.

"He'll be fine. Trust me," James said which a glimmer of mischief in his eyes. Peter felt this was a bad idea, but he didn't want to argue with his new friend.

* * *

An hour later, Frank, Peter, Remus and James were making their way downstairs for breakfast. It took them a good while to find their way to the Great Hall. A number of times they ended up in the complete wrong place, and at one point they ran into a mischievous poltergeist named Peeves who had started flinging dumgbombs at the four of them and calling them rude names.

At long last, they finally managed to get there after following some of the older students – Remus's idea.

"It's finding our way back to the common room that'll be the bigger problem," said Peter, buttering his toast and stuffing it in his mouth. Oh how good it was to be able to eat all he wanted. At home, his parents gave him a limit to what he could eat as they said he was getting a bit too chubby. Peter didn't really care; he just wanted to eat.

"I'm sure we'll be able to find somebody who knows the way," Remus said. "There are plenty of Gryffindors in this school."

They continued chatting for a while until Professor McGonagall appeared by their table.

"I have your timetables, boys," she said, handing one to each of them. "Where's the other one? There should be five of you."

"He wouldn't wake up," said James innocently, casting a grin to Remus, Peter and Frank. Professor McGonagall rolled her eyes.

"He'll be getting detention on his first day. I thought I'd let you know that I am the head of Gryffindor house, so should you have any problems, don't be shy," she said, walking off. The others looked at each other and then looked at their timetables.

"Herbology, Potions, Transfiguration and History of Magic," said Frank. "Not  _too_  bad, I suppose."

"I heard that History of Magic is boring as hell," Peter said, remembering stories he'd heard from his dad.

"Yeah, I've heard that too," James said. His face fell. "Oh, look who we're with for Potions and Transfiguration today," he moaned.

"Great," Peter said. "The  _Slytherins_."

"We don't even know the Slytherins yet," said Remus. "They might not be too bad."

"We know Snivellus," said James. "And if he's a reflection on Slytherin house, then I don't want to spend my year sharing lessons with them."

"I guess you're right," said Remus. Peter nodded in agreement.

"Excuse me, but I'd appreciate it of you call Severus by his  _real_  name, and could you  _please_  stop being so nasty about him," said Lily from beside them, looking annoyed. "He's my friend, and I don't like people being rude about my friends."

" _He's my friend and I don't like people being rude about my friends_ ," said James, mocking Lily in a high pitched whiny voice. Only Frank laughed.

"Remus, Peter? Why are you hanging around with these morons?" Lily asked coldly. "You can do much better than them."

Peter looked at Remus, not knowing what to say in reply. The look in Remus's eyes said he was thinking the same. Peter thought James was nice enough when he wasn't making fun of people.

"James is a nice person," Peter said, feeling slightly proud of himself for sticking up for someone. He had never been one to do so before.

"If you think he is nice, then you must think bullying is nice. I thought you were a decent person, Peter. I suppose I was wrong about you," Lily said angrily, flouncing away from the table. All four boys looked at each other.

"And to think we're stuck in her house for the next seven years," James whispered. "Merlin, help us!"

* * *

As the boys left the Great Hall, they suddenly realised that they had absolutely no idea where to go for their Herbology class. They looked around for help, but couldn't see anyone else who seemed to be lost.

"Where're the girls who were sitting at our table?" asked Peter peering around. "They're supposed to be in Herbology too, aren't they?."

"They've probably already found their way," groaned Frank.

After a little while, they spotted a group of three other students who looked as lost as they did. James strode up the them.

"Are you guys lost?" he asked. They all looked up from their timetables, looks of confusion on their faces.

"Yeah," responded one of the boys distantly. From their blue and bronze uniforms, Peter could tell that they were Ravenclaws.

"Are you looking for the greenhouses?" asked Peter. "I think you're in our Herbology class."

"Yeah, are you?"

"Yeah. We can't find them anywhere," James said, looking frustrated.

"Maybe we should ask a teacher." said one of the Ravenclaws.

"If you can  _find_  a teacher anywhere," said James, looking around "We've been looking for ages now." The corridor was completely empty and no teachers were to be seen.

"I don't want to be late to my very first lesson," said Remus anxiously.

"Too late for that, mate," James said. "We're already at least ten minutes late."

"Not as late as Sirius will be," said Peter, and they all sniggered – James especially. "Let's just wait around until a teacher appears."

"Won't we get into trouble?" asked Remus, looking slightly nervous.

"Stop being such a goody-two-shoes," James complained, rolling his eyes at Remus. "So, what're your names?" he asked the three Ravenclaws.

"I'm Michael Applebee," said one of them. "This is Will Parker and Aaron Thompson," he said, pointing at his two friends. "What are your names?"

"I'm James Potter. This is Frank Longbutt and Pe-"

"-Long _bottom_ ," corrected Frank angrily. Peter couldn't help but laugh at this, and he only received a glare from Frank, who obviously didn't find James's mistake funny.

"Yeah, Frank Longbottom, Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin. Oh, and we left our other room-mate upstairs. He's called Sirius Black."

"Sirius Black?" asked Aaron. "He's the one that all the girls in our House have been giggling about."

"Really?" asked James curiously. "Why?"

"He's cute, apparently," Will said, rolling his eyes.

"I bet he'll be thrilled to hear that," said James. "Oh look, there's a teacher. Professor?" The teacher who walked past was quite fat and wore dirty robes. He turned around at James's voice.

"Yes?"

"Could you show us where the greenhouses are?" asked Remus politely.

* * *

They finally reached the class twenty minutes late. They tried to sneak in, but Professor Sprout caught them.

"Where have you been?" she asked furiously. They all looked at each other wordlessly.

"We got lost," said Michael at last.

"Well don't get lost in the future. Five points will be taken from each of you," she said angrily. "Now please take a seat."

Peter didn't think this was very fair. Surely she would expect first year students to turn up late to their first ever class due to getting lost.

He groaned and sat down. Out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted a boy with wavy black hair and grey eyes. Sirius. Peter poked James in the arm and pointed at Sirius. They stared at him in confusion.

"How the hell did  _he_  get here?" he whispered, and Peter shrugged, taking out his equipment.

* * *

Overall, Peter found Herbology to be quite boring. It was just a subject that didn't catch his interest at all. Frank on the other hand, enjoyed it, which surprised the others.

"You're strange," James commented. Peter had realised at this point that James spoke his mind.

"Well, I don't know. I thought it was quite interesting," said Frank. He caught sight of some of the Gryffindor girls. "I'm just going to talk to Alice for a while," he said, and with that, he walked off to join them.

"Sirius?" asked James. "How did you get into Herbology before us?"

"Well, Professor McGonagall sent that prefect, Justin up to the room to wake me up because  _some people-"_  he glared at the three of them "-decided to let me sleep in. And then he escorted me to Herbology."

"Too bad mate, imagine having friends who won't wake you up," Peter said jokingly.

"It's not funny! My first day,  _and_  my first lesson, and you guys were going to let me be late!"

"Sorry," muttered Remus, who did look slightly ashamed of himself. Sirius smiled.

"Well, at least  _someone's_  nice," he said, slinging an arm around Remus's shoulder. Remus smiled and Sirius carried on talking. "Well, I guess this means I'll have to get you back at some point then eh, James?"

"If you honestly think you can," James said with a smirk.

"Oh, I can," Sirius said.

"I'd like to see you  _try_ ," challenged James.

"You just wait."

"Waiting. Patiently."

"Shut up. Now where are the dungeons?"

"Downstairs," Peter said. "I saw the Slytherins heading there."

"Let's go," said Sirius. They began walking down the stairs towards the dungeon following the Slytherins.

* * *

Overall, the first day of lessons wasn't particularly interesting. Peter found himself longing for food nearly the whole day.

In each of their classes, it was mainly just the professors laying down the rules for them and giving them a basic outline of what the subject was.

By the time Peter was in bed that night, he was quite happy the day was over. As he closed his eyes, he wondered what would be for breakfast the next day, and he wondered what Sirius's payback would be.


End file.
